And your point about Mexico is right on. While the media cries about a popular leader’s political maneuvering in Venezuela, they ignore the violent repression of a government that had to use fraud to win an election, and which sits right next door.

Thanks for sharing this – much appreciated.

(I just recovered – technically and emotionally – from a total crashage of my network system, which occurred late last week. I finally have everything up and running again…and I’m back to the comfort of facing the morning sun…as all things should be)

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not articulate regarding the political infrastructure of Venezuela, which leaves me hesitant to comment on the subject. For a novice such as myself, your article has left me with an overwhelming amount of information to absorb, but hey – that’s the best way for me to learn. Thank you.

My initial reaction was that I prefer to keep things as local as possible, so I had concerns about Chavez taking control of things at such a broad and high level (keeping in mind that I admittedly know nothing of Venezuela’s structure, as compared to the structure of the U.S.) And, while not knowing the history of Venezuela as much as I should, I don’t have the context to understand the circumstances under which the previous five presidents had used that legislation, and the outcomes of their decisions to do so.

On the other hand (if you’ll even recall the “first hand” at this point in my post) the uniform structure of this legislation brought to mind the work of Jimmy Carter’s voting oversight group – and that the main reason they refused to oversee the U.S. elections (aside from the obvious corruption at hand) pertained to the lack of uniformity in election processes, not only on a national level, or a state level, but from county to county. (aspirin, please?)

In reference to the credibility of the “media” in comparison to bloggers, I always find that subject so damn laughable. If a blogger were to post *anything* without depth of sourcing, they’d be mocked out of any community or thread in which they write. In contrast, as you’ve pointed out, the MSM can print the most unthinkable lies, and they do (…ahem…Fox and CNN with their deceitful, misleading trailers on the bottom of the screen come to mind as just a couple examples…)

Regarding tortilla prices – 400 fucking percent?!?!? Here again, I don’t know enough of both sides to speak intelligently on the subject, but on the surface it would seem that the desires of the U.S. always take precedent over the most basic needs of sustenance for the most humble and vulnerable in our global community…which saddens me to no end.

Keep writing, my friend. Without such resources as your blog, I wouldn’t be in a position to keep learning.

Thanks again and all my best. (love the banner, btw)

Peace,
-a

great article on chavez. i like how they are all like “Fresh from a visit with castro” and such. is anyone grabbing more power than bush lately? i mean, i think HE’s the big role model. we know how Putin started acting when he saw bush grabbing all this power here int he USA under guise of commu— oh I mean Terro-ism, we’re on the NEW ism now i keep forgetting. i think if one person starts getting loud, violent, and grabbing power, it is only natural anyway for others to worry about this person. as so many of us worry about bush.